I’ve required a machete to carve through cigarette smoke in a cyber-cafe in Heidelberg, just so I could play World of Warcraft on a laptop. It was summer, no air-conditioning, smoke everywhere, and I had to get my fix in.

My Warcraft account expired today. With nary a whimper. Just a couple months after the release of the expansion. I’ll do game cards if I need a fix. My daily obsession with reviewing all the add-on updates is over, and I’ve mined my last obsidium for a while.

I’m not missing it. It’s not the crack fix I craved just a couple of years ago. At first I thought I was going to have more characters at 85 than I had at 80 (which was six) and I realized that’s just crazy and the idea of fun just burned right up like some manuscript tossed in a trash can and set on fire.

And it’s because Rift has gotten everything right to capture my interest.

(Compared to Warhammer, I’d say Warhammer had the looks I liked, mostly, but it never truly gelled with me. Not like this.)

Rift is fun, there’s new features, it looks spectacular, and I know the interface.

And it’s new.

I’ve got, Guardian side, a High Elf Paladin I play (see pic above) with my wife’s High Elf Chloromancer (a healer type). (We’re trying our hardest to limit the number of alts and are committed to a single couple for each faction.) On the Defiant side I’ve got a melee Bahmi Cleric which I play with my wife’s Bahmi Beastmaster (Warrior in plate with a pet) (see pic below). But since altohlicism still runs deep, I do have a Guardian side Human Mage I play solo, and on the Defiant side a Dark Elf Hunter and Eth Rogue. These solo alts do gather resources for my main gear crafters.